A Collection of Pretty Things.

comparison

In the spirit of technology topics, being that this week is the annual CES gathering (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, I wanted to touch on cameras on phones. As most of you are aware, this is fast becoming one of the most competitive areas in the mobile arena, let alone the photography arena!

Top tier phones today have cameras that rival DSLRs from just a few years ago. Just do a Google search for ‘Smartphone vs. DSLR’, you will find a ton of review and opinions. You will undoubtedly read about the Nokia 1020 which is the current Smartphone king with a 41MP (no, that is not a typo – Fourty One.) camera and the ability to shoot RAW! Wow! Don’t get me wrong, this is not a DSLR/camera phone comparison or debate, rather I am just pointing out how good cameras are on phones now-a-days. Smartphones are still a ways off from realistically replacing the need for a full-time, purpose-built camera – which may never actually happen for the serious shooter. I for one, am happy all of this technology is moving forward because it will drive the DSLR market to innovate in hopes to keep their market share….and it helps make Instagram feeds a bit more interesting ;).

I took this photo below with a now 2-3 generation old phone in early 2011, the Motorola Atrix 4G. I got to be honest, I really like this photo! If I had taken this with my Nikon D7000, I would have been happy! At the time this was taken, I did not own a DSLR and this phone was my window into photography. It peaked my interest so much that I ended up doing my research and buying the DSLR I own today. I am happy this camera drove me to take better pictures and rewarded me when I was able to achieve that goal! It moved me along on my Photography journey.

With this week’s CES phone processor announcements and the Mobile World Congress around the corner, things are only going to get WAY more interesting! Don’t forget, which I do often, that cameras don’t make engaging images, people do.